The Making of a Soldier
by AnimegirlTohru
Summary: What would happen if the countries went to military boot camp? Teamwork is the key to success here. Many friendships emerge and maybe even some romances... More info and pairings inside.
1. Prologue

**Hi! So, I'm part of this program called the U.S Naval Sea Cadets (its like JROTC, but its Navy based). And as part of the program, I had to go to a mock boot camp that was two weeks long last summer. I thought, what if the characters of Hetalia had to go to boot camp? They would have to learn how to work as a team to get through it. The pairings I plan to do are GerIta, JapCan, FrUk, Spamano, PruHun or AusHun (I haven't decided, I may take a vote if I really can't decide), and RusAme. I also gender bent Canada, America, Italy and France. Things may change as I write this based on how things go. If you don't like the pairings either deal with it or don't read it. :) Thanks! I hope you enjoy the story.**

On a Sunday afternoon after church, Feliciana decided to go through her old things in the attic. Her husband Ludwig was working out in the yard. After some rummaging and moving things around, she found a long green metal box. It contained a seabag, some pictures, answer sheets, uniforms, and what Feliciana was most interested in... She found an old book. It was her journal from recruit training when she joined the Navy long ago.

Feliciana smiled as she flipped through the pages. She could still remember it all so clearly. She never would have met Ludwig if it weren't for her enlisting. She also wouldn't have made friends with everyone else there. It was very difficult, but she made it through and she made a lot of memories there.

Feliciana closed the footlocker and headed to the kitchen and poured herself a cup of tea. When she got to the living room, she got comfortable on the couch and began reading her journal.

Ludwig finished mowing the lawn and came inside. The coolness of the air conditioned house felt good to his body after being in the hot sun. After obtaining a glass of water, he walked into the living room and saw his wife. "Hey Feli, what are you reading?" he asked.

Feliciana jumped up from the couch. "Veeee! Ciao Ludwig!" She ran over to him and jumped into his arms. "I was bored so I went through my old things and found this!" she exclaimed showing Ludwig the journal. "It's my journal from recruit training."

"Ah, ja that was quite a while ago."

"Vee! Yes it was! And I don't regret it at all, that's when I met you Ludwig!"

Ludwig smiled, "Ja, I guess we would not be here right now if you didn't go," he swept her off her feet and kisses her softly.

They sat down on the couch and Feliciana cuddle up next to Ludwig. She knew that some of her entries might be a bit embarrassing, but she didn't care. She trusted Ludwig with her life. Anyway maybe they could have a few good laughs. She opened the book and the two read it until the end, reminiscing on the past.

Feliciana boarded the bus from the airport. Her flight had a delay so she was late. She wore the uniform that was sent to her and carried her heavy seabag aboard the bus.

"Hey curly! Hurry up! We don't have all day!" the bus driver yelled. The man was tall, had short brown hair and wore glasses. Did he just call her curly? She couldn't help that her hair just naturally curled that way. Despite feeling slightly offended, Feliciana continued, "Yes sir!" she yelled as she ran to find an open seat. All the seats were fully occupied except one where a girl with short golden brown hair styled in a bob, and had bright blue eyes sat. "Is it alright if I sit here?"

"Sure dude!" the girl exclaimed.

"Quiet down back there!" the driver yelled. Feliciana found it amusing that the driver had music playing. Especially because it was classical. 'What kind of accent is that?' Feliciana wondered. 'German? Austrian?'

She sat down quickly and the bus sped off. "So what's your name? I'm Feliciana Vargas. I guess we'll be going by last names though."

"I'm Alfreda Jones! It's great to meet you!"

"Vee! Nice to meet you too!" she replied cheerfully. She was scared about what was to come throughout the next thirteen weeks, but she kept telling herself that she wouldn't be alone. That was enough to get her through it.

In front of Feliciana and Alfreda were a blonde girl who looked much like Alfreda but with longer hair that was pulled back in a bun and a boy with short black hair. The girl was crying.

"H-Hey are you alright?" Feliciana asked the girl.

"That's my sister Matthia..." Alfreda sighed. "She's always like this."

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't be nice to her." She put a hand on Matthia's shoulder. "Veee, what's wrong?"

Matthia turned around. "I-I can't do this... I'm so scared, I'm going to fail, I-I won't make it..." she continued to cry.

"Remember, we're all in the same situation. We're all nervous, even those who won't admit it. But we're all going to make it through. Isn't the military all about camaraderie?" Feliciana handed Matthia a tissue.

"I-I suppose..."

Feliciana smiled. "Veee! Good. Everything will be alright."

The boy with black hair wasn't speaking. He seemed to not really acknowledge anything that was happening. He seemed to be off in his own little world.

The bus soon came to a sudden stop. The doors opened and the driver got up and walked out. "GET OUT! NOW!" he yelled.

Everyone got up as fast as they could putting their heavy seabags on their backs and got out as fast as they could.

"HURRY! YOU CAN GO FASTER THAN THAT!" the driver yelled. 'GET IN AN ORDERLY LINE, FEMALES IN THE FRONT! AND HURRY UP WILL YA!"

The recruits did exactly as they were told. They got into a straight line, 'So there are nine females...' Feliciana thought. The driver went to the front of the line. "NOW LISTEN AND YOU LISTEN GOOD! I am leading you to the gymnasium where check in and seabag checks will take place. You will dump out all the contents of your seabag and show it to the person checking you in. Any contraband items will be confiscated until the end of training. After you check in you are to go to your barracks and meet your shipmates. You will be living together for the next thirteen weeks so get to know them. DO YOU UNDERSTAND RECRUITS?!"

"YES SIR!" the company shouted back.

Feliciana quietly sighed. The other recruits took those orders as just orders, but how she interpreted it was 'Welcome to thirteen weeks of hell.'

**Please review! :)**


	2. Shock & Awe

**Thank you BayDear for reviewing! Note: I've obviously never been to real boot camp so some of it may be inaccurate. I'm mostly basing this off my experience at the mock one I went to and I've also been using my dad as a reference (he served in the Navy for 27 years), and I've also done a bit of research as well.**

Matthia somehow ended up first in line. There was a long line of tables that all had officers behind them waiting for the recruits. She clumsily walked to the check in table on the farthest end of the gymnasium, Feliciana and Alfreda followed and stopped at their respective table. After all the tables had a recruit at it everyone else filed into lines behind them in an organized manner.

"Good morning," the lady behind the table said. She was in dress whites and had beautiful light brown hair pulled back in a bun. She had large ribbon bar, and by her rank markings, Matthia recognized her to be a E-6, Petty Officer First Class. "What is your name, recruit?"

"M-Matthia Williams, ma'am," she replied. 'Well at least she isn't yelling...'

She shook her hand. "Good to meet you recruit Williams. I am petty officer first class, Elizabeta Hedervary."

Matthia took her seabag off her back and set it on the ground putting all her belongings on the table. She was shaking with anxiousness.

"You're nervous aren't you? Don't worry, thirteen weeks seems like a long time, but its just the beginning of your Naval career. Just do your best and you'll make it."

"T-Thank you ma'am..." Matthia quickly stuffed her things back into her bag then left the gym. Using the map the lieutenant gave her, she headed to the female barracks.

Feliciana and Alfreda caught up with her. "Hey Matthia! Are you doing alright?"

"Y-Yeah.." she replied. Despite what Petty Officer Hedervary said, Matthia was still scared out of her mind.

"Hello ladies!" a female voice exclaimed. A girl with blonde hair in a bob, that is a little bit longer than Alfreda's, but short enough to meet regulations. She laughed strangely, "I am Francine Bonnefoy. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Hey dude! How are you? I'm Alfreda and this is my sister Matthia and this is Feliciana!"

Shortly after, five other girls came in. Their names were Laura Maes, Natalia Arlovskaya, Sadie Dupont, Mei Xiao, and Iryna Chernenko. "Why do we have to be so outnumbered?" Iryna complained. "T-The males wouldn't stop staring at me... It's creepy..."

"We're always a minority here girls. This is why we have to stick together and kick those mens butts!" Natalia exclaimed.

"H-How? They're much stronger than us combined..." Matthia commented.

"Stop being such a baby," Alfreda interrupted. "You're all making such a big deal out of this."

"Not all of us," Laura and Sadie commented in unison.

"Well whatever, I'm happy because there are a bunch of hot guys," Francine said with a smirk.

Everyone's eyes shifted to Francine. "You do know that fraternization will get you trouble right?" Feliciana said.

Francine just shrugged then put a hand on Feliciana's shoulder, "Yes that is true, but only if you get caught..."

Alfreda nodded in agreement, "Yes! Finally someone who isn't a good two shoes like my sister., I think we'll be very good friends."

The girls continued to talk among themselves. A few hours passed and they were shocked by a blaring female voice.

"FEMALES! STOP THE CHATTER AND GET IN FRONT OF YOUR BUNKS!" the lady yelled. Matthia instantly recognized her. It was the woman who checked her in when they arrived here.

Everyone did as she told them and stood at attention. "I am one of your drill instructors. My name is Elizbeta Hedervary. However you will refer to me as ma'am. You will refer to yourselves as "this recruit". You will NOT use "I", "me" or "my". You are a team and are no longer individuals! IS THAT CLEAR RECRUITS?"

"Yes ma'am!" they all shouted.

"YOU NEED TO BE LOUDER THAN THAT! AND USE YOUR DIAPHRAM! IF YOU DON'T YOU'LL REGRET IT."

"YES MA'AM!"

"That's better! These thirteen weeks will be a life changing experience so you should consider yourselves lucky. The Navy proudly serves our country with HONOR, COURAGE AND COMMITMENT. Remember that. And you better learn the Sailor's Creed and your general orders. Also remember this, just because we are women, DOES NOT, under any circumstances mean that we are weaker than the males or have any excuses to not work as hard. And help each other. You are a team. Now get in a line and follow me!"

"YES MA'AM!" the female recruits responded.

Elizabeta led the recruits down the four flights of stairs back to the gymnasium where they checked in. the males were in a line on the other end of the gym. In front of them was a very tall man with platinum blonde hair stood in front of them.

'… Even though I've never seen him before and he's not currently yelling, he has a scary aura... But he's kinda hot..' Natalia thought to herself.

"Arlovskaya! Wipe that smirk off your face, you are at attention! You do not smile, fidget or look around while at attention!" Elizabeta yelled.

"YES MA'AM!" Natalia responded.

From the corner of her eye, Feliciana saw that more people were coming into the gym. She assumed they were the rest of the staff. She recognized the man from the bus. When she saw his name plate on his dress uniform, she recognized it from the list of the chain of command. Edelstein, the commander of this recruit training. Following him were a blonde man with green eyes, and a man with brown hair and green eyes. The last one to come in was a man with neat blonde hair and cerulean eyes. Feliciana suddenly felt her stomach clench. What was going on with her? She decided to try and ignore it, she didn't want to get yelled at like Natalia was.

"Good afternoon recruits. Welcome to this year's recruit training. I am Commander Roderich Edelstien. These gentlemen by me are: your executive officer Lieutenant Basch Zwingli, your division officer Ensign Antonio Carriedo, your chaplain Augustus Quintus, and your chief drill instructor Chief Petty Officer, Ludwig Bielschmidt. And you have already met your senior drill instructors, Petty Officer First Class Elizabeta Hedervary and Petty Officer Second Class Ivan Braginski. Your cooks who are dedicating their time to making your meals are Yao Wang and Lovino Vargas. Always remember to thank them. Many friendships will develop over the next several weeks and no matter where you go they will surely remain for the rest of your life. Now remember this is training, no one if trying to offend any of you in any way so don't take anything personally. My best of luck to you." Roderich turned around and left with Basch, Antonio, and Augustus. There were only the petty officers and chief left with the recruits.

"RECRUITS! TWENTY PUSH UPS! AND YOU BETTER DO THEM PROPERLY!" Ludwig yelled. Ludwig's voice was so clamorous that it echoed stronger than Elizabeta's voice by a long shot.

They all got down. Feliciana tried hard but kept falling to the ground after a few push ups. That was always her weak point. Push ups as well as running. Ludwig, Ivan and Elizabeta ran around the room yelling.

"STUPID! YOU CALL THOSE PUSH UPS? I BET MY GRANDMA COULD DO A WAY BETTER JOB THEN YOU!" Ludwig yelled at her. "EVERYONE BACK UP!"

Right the company stood back up, Ludwig yelled again. "GET DOWN AND GIVE ME FIFTEEN MORE!"

This went on for almost an hour. They never stopped yelling the whole time. This brought Matthia to tears. Everyone felt really bad for her. Ivan and Elizabeta would not stop picking on her.

"CRYING WILL NOT GET YOU ANYWHERE!" Ivan yelled.

"He is right! It will just make your time here more miserable," Elizabeta added.

Matthia did not respond. She just continued to follow the commands and tried to ignore it. Her face was still damp with tears, but at this point her eyes were dry.

One of the male recruits Heracles Karpusi was laying down on the ground. 'This is too much work. Why the heck did I sign up for this? What have I gotten myself into?' he thought.

"HEY! GET UP! ARE YOU JUST GOING TO LAY HERE WHILE YOUR SHIPMATES ARE DOING WHAT THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING? YOU KEEP THIS UP AND IT WILL BE HELL FOR YOU!" Ludwig yelled.

'Whatever.' Heracles thought as he got up slowly.

After all those push ups no one had any energy left. Then suddenly, a bell clank.

"GET IN YOUR LINES!" Ludwig exclaimed running back to the middle of the room.

"RIGHT FACE!" Ivan and Elizabeta yelled in unison to their respective platoons.

"IT IS LUNCH TIME NOW. AFTER LUNCH YOU WILL RETURN TO YOUR BARRACKS TO ORGANIZE YOUR THINGS." Ludwig announced, his voice echoing in the gym silent gym.

The females got to leave the gym first and the males followed.

'Well I hope the food is good at least...' Francine thought.

**Clarification of human names: Iryna Cherneko- Ukraine, Laura Maes- Belgium, Sadie Dupont- Seychelles, Mei Xiao- Taiwan, Augustus Quintus- Ancient Rome. Just thought I'd point out the ones that weren't that obvious. If there are any I forgot let me know. I made up Seychelles' and Ancient Rome's names (and some others that have not appeared in the story yet) since they had no given or prospective names. And I know that I've mostly been writing from the point of view of the females, but I'll do more from the males' point of view soon. By the way the whole yelling thing, I slight based it on my experience... I still remember it pretty clearly.. I was totally Canada then, I was crying pretty hard. But I eventually got used to it and it wasn't so bad in the end... Okay enough rambling. I hope you like it. Please review! :)**


	3. A Memory

**Thank you Guest and BayDear for reviewing!**

**Note: The thing before they eat (you'll know what I mean when you read), yup I did that at my boot camp. I know they don't do that in legit boot camp, but since this is fictional I thought I'd just add it anyway for amusement XD**

**Note #2: I won't be doing this day by day because if I were to do that I'd have over 96 chapters... So there will be some timeskips throughout the story.**

Kiku Honda acquired his food and followed the line. He ended up by the blonde girl that sat by him on the bus. He did not know her name. She might have mentioned it, but he couldn't remember. He looked at her name tape. It read 'Williams'. Then he remembered the girls in the seat behind them calling her Matthia.

No one was currently telling the recruits to be quiet, so Kiku turned to Matthia. "Hello. I am Kiku Honda. Gomenasai for not talking earlier. I usually refrain from speaking."

Matthia, who was slightly startled, looked at the short dark haired man. He was clearly Asian. She smiled shyly at him. "Hi. I'm Matthia Williams. And its no problem... I don't really talk much either, mainly because few people notice me since I'm not really the loudest person..." she replied.

Kiku lightly smiled. "We are somewhat alike, maybe we can be friends, hai?"

Matthia quietly nodded. "Yes, that would be nice... My sister Alfreda usually ignores me anyway."

"Attention!" Elizabeta yelled after the whole company got their food. They all stood at attention. "Listen up! At every meal you will not start eating until I or Petty Officer Braginski tell you so. You will do this sequence in cadence with each other. You will all sit down at the same time and say 'Left hand left knee, right hand right knee, back straight, feet flat, mouth shut, sir/ma'am!' Until you can do this correctly and in syn you will not eat. Is that understood?!"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Good. And unless you are cutting something, your left hand will stay on your left knee."

"You may now sit!" Ivan exclaimed.

"Left hand left knee, right hand right knee, back straight feet flat, mouth shut sir!"

"THAT WAS NOT LOUD ENOUGH! DO IT AGAIN!" Ivan yelled.

The company had to repeat the routine two more times before Elizabeta and Ivan were finally satisfied.

"You may eat," Elizabeta said. "You have ten minutes to eat everything on your tray. As soon as everyone has finished, clear your trays and before leaving, shout "Mmm, finger lickin' good!' This is to show our cooks Mr. Wang and Mr. Vargas appreciation for making your food."

'This will be easy! I mean who needs ten minutes to eat anyway?' Alfreda thought as she ate happily.

"Hm, I suppose the food is alright... But its nothing like my cooking!' Francine thought.

The ten minutes passed by quickly. "GET UP!" Ivan yelled. A majority of the recruits were done eating besides a few who quickly stuffed their faces and one who had barely eaten anything and was still sitting without a care in the world.

"Recruit Karpusi! What are you doing?!" Elizabeta yelled. As the other recruits leaving the cafeteria, she and Ivan slowly walked towards Heracles. "Still eating ma'am," he replied, his voice not very clear because his mouth was full of food as he spoke.

"Idiot! You had TEN minutes and your plate is pretty much full. Explain yourself."

Heracles didn't say anything and continued to eat as if Elizabeta and Ivan were not there.

"Recruit! You do NOT ignore a drill instructor when one is talking to you! Are you looking for trouble?!" Ivan asked angrily.

Heracles still continued to eat. Ivan and Elizabeta stared at him in astonishment. About three minutes passed and he finished and fell asleep on his tray.

"This one is impossible..." Elizabeta whispered to Ivan.

Ivan nodded in agreement. "Da. Let's leave this up to Chief. He'll deal with him."

After looking at the recruit once more, Ivan and Elizabeta left the cafeteria and headed to their respective quarters.

All the recruits were in their respective barracks organizing their things. Arthur Kirkland had a bottom bunk and above him was Kiku Honda. 'That chap is very quiet. I wonder if he's doing alright," Arthur wondered. "Hello. Kiku was it? Are you alright? You haven't said much, so I was just wondering."

Kiku got down from his bunk. "Hello. Thank you for the concern, but I am doing alright. You are Arthur correct?"

Arthur nodded. "Yes. It's nice to make your acquaintance."

"Kesesesesesesesese!"

Arthur and Kiku turned around hearing a strange laugh. It came from the bunk next to them that was occupied by an albino man.

'What kind of laugh is that?' Arthur thought to himself. "Hello. And you are?"

"I am the awesome Gilbert Bielschmidt. No one can out-awesome my awesome awesomeness!" Gilbert exclaimed.

Arthur and Kiku exchanged glances. 'He has an awfully large ego...' Kiku thought.

"Hi there. Bielschmidt? Does that mean you're related to Chief Drill?" Arthur asked starting small talk.

"Kesesesese! Yes! He is mein older brueder. however I am still the most awesome out of the Beilschmidts!"

"Must you use 'awesome' in almost every sentence? And what's up with that laugh? Am I really going to have to deal with this?" Toris Laurinaitis, the man above Gilbert complained.

Ignoring Toris, Gilbert kept talking, "Kesesese, I'm so jealous of the female recruits."

"And why is that?" Arthur asked.

"Man, isn't their drill instructor hot? I forgot her name, but she's awesome. Of course not as awesome as me, but you get the point. I'm also jealous of that Edelsten guy as well. I think something is going on between them."

"Do you mean Edelstein-san?" Kiku asked correcting Gilbert.

"Ja, sure whatever his name is. I don't really care since he is most definitely not awesome like me."

'Well this is going to get old fast...' Arthur thought.

In the female barracks, Matthia realized that she didn't have anyone in the bunk above her due to the odd number of female recruits. She was glad that at least Feliciana and Alfreda were sharing the bunk beside her.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty excited for the rest of this thing. It'll be difficult, but at least we're not gonna die," Alfreda stated.

"A-Are you sure about that?" Matthia said in a nervous tone.

Feliciana laughed, "No one is going to die Matthia. The whole purpose of all this training is not to tear us down but to learn how to handle a stressful environment. Just don't take anything they say personally and you'll be alright."

"Yes I suppose..."

Natalia and Francine were in the next bunk over. "Hey Natalia, why exactly did Petty Officer Hedervary yell at you earlier? What were you smiling about?" Francine asked smirking.

Natalia did not answer. Her face was red with embarrassment."W-What do you mean?" she asked.

"Ohonhonhon. You know exactly what I mean. You were staring at Petty Officer Braginski were you not?"

"If you already knew, than why ask?" Natalia replied irritated. "And its not like aren't doing the same thing! I saw you eying that blonde with green eyes and thick eyebrows. I think his name is Kirkland right?"

"W-Well at least he's another recruit! Feliciana totally had her eyes on Chief Drill!"

"Ooooh burn!" Alfreda exclaimed smirking at Feliciana.

Feliciana's face was now red like the other two. 'It's just, I feel like I might have met him before... It's a weird feeling, but...'

_Seven year old Feliciana ran thought the forest, she and her friends were playing hide and seek, but she couldn't find them anywhere._

_'Vee... W-Where am I?' Feliciana realized that she had gone farther into the forest then she intended. She spun in a circle. Everything looked the same and it was getting dark. There was a sudden cold breeze that blew causing her to shiver._

_After about ten more minutes of walking through the dusk forest, Feliciana fell to her knees and her eyes watered. "Vee... I just want to go home!" she cried aloud._

_A young teen of about fifteen years old with messy blonde hair and cerulean eyes that had a hunting rifle was on his way out of the forest after hunting with his friends. They had ditched him earlier and left with all the game they caught. He saw Feliciana. 'I wonder if she's alright...' he thought as he walked towards her. "Little girl, are you lost?" he asked._

_Feliciana turned around to see the boy. He was obviously much taller than her so it was slightly intimidating. "Y-yes sir... I was playing hide and seek with my friends, but I couldn't find them, and I ended up here... Now its dark and scary and I just want to go home! Vee..."_

"_Calm down, I know the way out of here. I'll help you."_

"_R-Really? Thank you so much!"_

"_No problem. It will be a little while, but don't worry, we'll make it out of here." The boy grabbed Feliciana's hand and guided her through the forest._

_They soon got out of the forest and there were two other girls outside the forest. "Feli!" one of them exclaimed. "We were so worried about you!" the other said._

"_Sarah, Katie!" Feliciana let go of the boy's hand and the three young girls gathered into a group hug._

"_We're so glad you're alright!" Katie exclaimed._

"_Me too! It was thanks to the boy in the forest that I made it out alive!" Feliciana exclaimed turning around. "Thank you Mr.-" She then realized the boy had disappeared._

"Male on deck!" Ivan yelled.

"All clear!" the female recruits yelled in unison.

Ivan walked into the barracks. "Petty Officer Hedervary is with Chief Bielschmidt at the moment. I was told to inform you that you have ten minutes left to organize your things in a neat and orderly manner. Things better be neat by the time I get back. UNDERSTOOD?"

"YES SIR!"

"Chief, we have a minor problem," Elizabeta after entering Chief Bielschmidt's quarters.

Ludwig sighed. "What is it Hedervary?"

"We have an impossible recruit already. He doesn't listen to Braginski nor I. And he's so lazy. He literally fell asleep on his tray at lunch."

"Ah, I'm assuming its the one that was lying down during "shock and awe" yesterday, ja?"

"Yes, it's recruit Karpusi. Braginski and I just decided to leave him there for now. We figured you'd deal with it Chief."

"Oh, I'll deal with it alright. Just leave it to me. You may go back to your recruits. After they're finished organizing give them their first marching lesson at 1315."

"Aye Chief."

**Well there you go. I think this chapter was a bit longer than usual. XD I hope you are enjoying the story. Please review! :)**


	4. A Long Afternoon

After Elizabeta had left, Ludwig headed to the cafeteria. There Heracles was, he still had his head rested upon his tray in a peaceful slumber.

Ludwig looked at him in shock. 'So Hedervary really wasn't kidding...' he thought. "RECRUIT KARPUSI! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!"

Heracles slowly lifted his head and opened his eyes. "H-Huh?" he said with a yawn.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"

"I was just taking a nap sir..."

"This is recruit training, not preschool! What is wrong with you?!"

Heracles shrugged and stood up. "Okay. And nothing sir."

Ludwig laughed, "Thanks to you, there will be quarterdeck tonight."

"Quarterdeck?"

"Extra physical training. We usually would only have it in the morning, but since you decided to screw up we will have it after dinner. I'm sure all your fellow shipmates will highly appreciate it," Ludwig said in a sarcastic tone. "Drop down and give me twenty right now!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't bring any money with me."

Ludwig sighed. He was so irritated that he wanted to punch Heracles in the face. "Give me twenty push ups now or you will regret not doing as I say!"

Heracles sighed. He didn't really know how to do push ups so he started doing them from his knees.

'Is this guy just trying to get in trouble on purpose or is he really that lazy?' "Those are not push-ups you pansy! The female recruits can do better push-ups than you! Do them correctly otherwise it might raise to thirty!"

Heracles sighed again and attempted to do them. He did about three before falling to the ground.

Ludwig shook his head and sighed with disappointment as he stood over the lazy recruit. 'He's clearly not going to last long.

Meanwhile, Elizabeta came into the female barracks.

"Attention on deck!" Ivan yelled.

All the recruits stood at attention. "As you were, but pay attention," Elizabeta said. "Come outside and form a line. Petty Officer Braginski, go get the male recruits and bring them outside to the grinder. We will begin marching now."

"Aye petty officer," Braginski replied as he left. Elizabeta led the females out of the barracks and after a few minutes of standing at attention the males came over.

"Alright, everyone get into one formation with 3 squads! And make it snappy, we don't have all day! Company, fall in!" Ivan exclaimed.

All the recruits ran frantically trying to get into a neat formation. Due to a uneven amount of recruits, Matthia was left by herself in the back. Not long after they were in an orderly formation, Heracles was slowly walking towards them.

"Run! You're late Karpusi! It's because of you that everyone is waiting!"

Heracles sighed and sped up to a slow jog. Ivan and Elizabeta shook their heads in disbelief. He got into formation next to Matthia.

"KARPUSI! THIS IS NOT YOUR FORMATION, YOU MUST ASK PERMISSION TO FALL IN. SO GET YOUR LAZY BUTT UP HERE!" Elizabeta scolded.

Heracles sighed again. 'Why am I here?' he thought to himself. He walked to the front of the formation to Ivan who was in charge of it.

"Now, salute and say 'Request permission to fall in?' and after I grant you permission, you will NOT break ranks, you will go AROUND the formation to your spot. Understood?"

"...Yes sir." Heracles saluted with his left hand, "Request per-"

"You only salute with your right hand! How dumb are you?!"

Heracles quickly changed hands, "Request permission to fall in."

"Fall in."

"Alright, firstly, this is a typical formation. There are different stances you will be at. When at attention, you do not move at all, you must ask permission to move by raising your fist and the person is charge will choose whether to allow it or not. When at parade rest you hold your hands together on the small of your back and you still cannot talk or move. When at, at ease, you hold your hands together behind your back lower then at parade rest and you cannot move or speak. And lastly, when at rest, you hold your hands back in the same way, but you are able to quietly converse amongst yourselves while keeping your right foot in place," Elizabeta explained. "Is that clear recruits?"

"YES MA'AM!"

"Alright, now sit in a half circle."

The recruits did as she said wondering what would happen now.

Within the span of an hour, Elizabeta and Ivan taught them all the basics of marching. As the y were drilling around the grinder, Elizabeta was looking around for mistakes as Ivan was calling cadence.

"Vargas! You are out of step! You as well Williams! Get with the program!" she yelled.

Feliciana and Matthia shuffled their feet and got back into step. However Matthia had a harder time and soon got out of step again.

"Williams, what the heck? It's not that difficult. Left, right, left..."

Matthia knew that she never had the greatest sense of rhythm. Although she kept fixing her feet, they kept getting out of step no matter what.

Elizabeta sighed then turned to Ivan, "Can you please halt the formation for a second petty officer Braginiski?"

"Aye. Ready, halt."

The company stopped together, but Matthia who was still out of step took an extra step forward before halting.

"The vast majority of you have good marching skills, but they could definitely still use some improvement. Recruit Honda, well done, you didn't make a single mistake and your columns were great. I want you to help recruit Williams with her marching. You may be able to teach her how to actually stay in step."

"Aye ma'am," Kiku replied.

"Very good. Honda, and Williams, fall out and work on marching over there," she said pointing to the far end of the grinder.

Kiku and Matthia left the formation. "You're the one I talk to at lunch, hai?" Kiku asked Matthia as they walked quickly across the grinder.

Matthia nodded, "Yes that was me..." she replied quietly.

"So, what are you having trouble with?" Kiku asked when they got there.

"F-for some reason I can't stay with the cadence... I'm either behind or ahead and when I correct myself it gets messed up again."

"Well, are you looking down at your feet the whole time?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, I suggest that you should not. It can actually make you be out of step more. If you just focus on the speed of the cadence and know that you're putting down the correct foot then you'll stay in step. It also helps to count to four continuously in your head and if your left foot is going down on an odd number and your right foot is going down on an even number, then you know you're in step," Kiku explained. "I hope that helps."

"Hmm, I'll try it!" Matthia exclaimed.

Kiku smiled. "I'll call cadence for you and try your best to stay in time, hai?"

Matthia nodded. She followed the Japanese man's cadence taking his advice. She still wasn't perfect, but she was improving at least.

Kiku brought her to a halt and she ended on the correct foot."Very good. Just try not to over think it and you won't have to correct yourself as much."

"Thank you Honda.. Arigato. That's it right? Thank you in Japanese?"

"Hai, you are correct."

Matthia smiled shyly.

"Want to practice more, hai?"

"Sure."

The two young adults continued to practice marching until Ivan called them over. "RECRUIT WILLIAMS AND RECRUIT HONDA, FALL IN!"

Kiku and Matthia ran across the grinder and fell into formation which was only in two squads now. "Good hustle!" Ivan exclaimed. "Recruits! When we get back to the main building, we will take a 5 minute head and water break. If you need to refill your canteen or use the head then do some in a timely manner, no dilly dallying. Understood?!"

"YES SIR!"

After marching back to the building, the two squads were told to stand against the two walls (not leaning on them of course) and they got their break. Alfreda, Feliciano, Matthia and Francine went to the restroom.

"Ohonhonhon, do I see something going on between you and Honda?" Francine asked as they walked to the restroom.

Before Matthia could react to that question, Feliciana cut in, "Veee... Bonnefoy, must you always butt into everyone's business?" she asked.

"Dude, I was about to ask Matthia the same thing!" Alfreda exclaimed ignoring Feliciana's comment.

Matthia's face was totally red with embarrassment. Alfreda and Francine both smirked.

"Veee! It's okay Williams. We're all in a similar situation. Well I don't know about Jones though..." After saying this Feliciana, Francine and Matthia all looked at Alfreda.

"W-Why are you all looking at me?!"Alfreda asked defensively.

"You very well know why," Francine replied.

"Someone will kill me if I she found out."

"Huh? Who?" Feliciana asked confused.

Alfreda looked around surreptitiously. "... Try to guess."

"I-Is is someone one of us like?"

"No! Not at all."

"Then who-"

"Petty Officer Braginski is it not?" Matthia asked. Although they weren't all that close, Matthia knew when her sister liked someone.

Alfreda nodded nervously. "Y-Yeah, him."

"Veeeee. Aww." Feliciana said.

"Ah, Arlovskaya will certainly not like this..." Francine remarked.

"N-None of you will tell her right?"

It shocked Matthia to see Alfreda this way. "Of course we won't sis."

Alfreda lightly smiled and the four girls hurried to the restroom and then hurried back to where the rest of the company was.

The rest of the day had gone by quickly. They had classes on general orders of a sentry, military courtesy, and navy regulations. Then they had dinner. It had all gone by fast until afterward...

Elizabeta and Ivan led the company into the gymnasium. When they arrived there, Chief Drill Bielschmidt was in the center of the gym.

"I wonder what's going on?" Arthur whispered to Kiku and Gilbert.

"I heard that someone messed up big time or something and we're getting a pt session with Chief Drill..." Gilbert whispered back.

"I don't know for sure, but I think Bielschmidt is right..." Kiku added.

"GOOD EVENING RECRUITS!" Ludwig yelled so deafeningly that his voice echoed through the gym three times.

"GOOD EVENING SIR!" everyone replied just as loud.

"Now, I don't know if some of you know why you're here... Recruit Karpusi, front and center!"

Heracles apathetically walked forward.

"He is why you're all here. When one of you screws up, you all screwed up. You are not individuals, you are a team. So I better not hear any complaints, keep them to yourself... Now run seven laps! Schnell! And you Karpusi, eighty push ups right now!"

Feliciana froze. Running was what she was worst at. But she couldn't just give up. She started to run. Everyone was faster than her. When she was about half way through her first lap the fastest runners, Arthur, Sadie, Natalia and Kiku had passed her already half way through their second lap. She kept pushing herself to keep going, but it got harder as time passed. When she finally reached her final lap she was the only one still running and everyone watched. Heracles was only one his twenty fifth push up.

"RECRUITS! ARE YOU REALLY JUST GOING TO STAND THEIR WHILE YOUR FELLOW SHIPMATE IS RUNNING BY HERSELF?! Cheer her on, help her finish!" Elizabeta yelled.

Matthia ran over to her and continued running at Feliciana's pace. "You've been really nice to me since we met this morning, so I'm going to do the same for you."

Feliciana smiled and staggered as she spoke. "Thank. You. Matthia..." Feliciana was losing her breath fast, breathing heavier with each set of strides.

"A-Are you okay Feli?" Matthia asked worriedly.

"Y-yeah... I'm o-" Feliciana suddenly collapsed, her body hit the ground with a loud bang.

"Vargas!" Matthia exclaimed in fear. Francine and Alfreda quickly ran over followed by the rest of the company.

"Everyone step aside," Ivan said firmly as he, Elizabeta and Ludwig pushed through the crowd of recruits to the middle where Feliciana laid unconscious.

Ludwig sighed. "Braginski and Hederavary, you finish up here, take the recruits to the showers and I'll take recruit Vargas to medical."

"Aye," Elizabeta and Ivan replied in unison.

Ludwig brought Feliciana to the infirmary. A pretty young lady with short blonde hair and mystic green eyes. "Hello Chief Bielschmidt. Oh my what happened?" she asked worriedly.

"HM2 Vogel. Recruit Vargas collapsed during quarterdeck. She's alright, but she is unconscious," he replied laying Feliciana on the hospital bed.

"I see... Well don't worry, I'll take good care of her sir!" Hospitalman Second Class Erika Vogel exclaimed sweetly.

"Thank you Vogel. I'll be leaving now."

"Alright. Have a good night Chief."

**Hope you're enjoying the story! Please review, fav or alert. Thanks! :D By the way, Erika Vogel is Liechtenstein. I had to use her for the medic cause I ran out of characters. So just imagine that she's older :)**


	5. Chief Drill?

**Okay I think four chapters was a bit long for a day, so after this scene, here's the first big time skip... And I'd like to thank BayDear for continuing to read and review! *hands them a virtual cookie.* :3**

At about 0430, Ludwig headed to the infirmary to check on Feliciana. Erika was sitting at her desk sorting the recruit's medical paperwork. When she saw that Ludwig had come in, she stood up. "Good morning Chief. Is something the matter?" she asked wondering why he came in so early.

"No, nothing ma'am. I just wanted to see how the down recruit was doing," Ludwig replied.

This surprised Erika. 'That's strange. He has never usually checks in on sick recruits at all the recruit trainings I've staffed at with him...' she thought confused. "Oh okay, well recruit Vargas regained consciousness at about midnight, I gave her some food and then she went to sleep. I will send her back to the platoon when I think she is ready," she replied.

"Alright."

Feliciana had been woken up by Erika's and Ludwig's conversation. She didn't want to be nosy so she decided to go back to sleep.

"So I was wondering, why the sudden worry? At all the recruits trainings I've staffed with you, you have never actually checked on any sick recruits, so why now?" Erika asked curiously.

"No reason!" Ludwig replied quickly.

"Hmm, okay then... She's in the bed over there if you want to see for yourself."

Feliciana woke up again, her eyes slowly fluttering open with fatigue. Above her was the tall blonde man his cool blue gaze meeting her brown one.

She quickly got out of the bed and stood at attention and saluted him. "Good morning sir!" she yelled as loud as she could. It was better to be safe then sorry. She didn't want to get yelled at 0430 in the morning.

Ludwig laughed. "You didn't have to do that, you know."

'Did he just laugh?' Feliciana thought. She slowly dropped her salute feeling slightly embarrassed. "Sorry sir..."

Ludwig clapped, "Don't apologize. That was amazing actually. Never in my time of staffing recruit trainings has that happened."

Feliciana sat down on the hospital bed. "Thanks?"

"Get some sleep. Then its back to training."

Feliciana did as Ludwig told her and layed down in the bed again. 'Well this is nice, at least I can sleep a bit more...' she thought.

About a week had passed since the nations arrived to recruit training. Each day was similar, pt at 5:00 in the morning, breakfast, marching, classes, barrack cleaning, more marching, dinner, DIVO time/chief drill time, showers, bed. It was Sunday morning, and after breakfast, the recruits were allowed go to church if they wanted to. Almost all of them went, besides some of the male recruits.

"You know, I think this really isn't so bad," Sadie commented.

"Yeah I think we're all starting to get used to it," Laura added.

"I got used to it a long time ago. It's getting kind of boring and repetitive in my opinion. Just twelve more weeks of this boring routine," Natalia said.

The nine female recruits sort of split into two groups when they were hanging out during down time in their barracks. Natalia, Sadie, Laura, and Mei in one and Feliciana, Francine, Iryna, Matthia, and Alfreda in the other.

"Vargas, why do some of the men stare at me when I run? It's rather uncomfortable..." Iryna asked.

Feliciana sighed, "It's because they're a bunch of perverts. Just ignore them. But if it gets out of hand and it really bugs you, report it to Petty Officer Hedervary and she'll take it up the chain of command. Sexual harassment isn't acceptable here."

"A-Alright. Thanks Feli..."

They soon arrived to the chapel. There were some civilians there.

Alfreda noticed Kiku. "Hey dude, aren't you like, not Christian?"

"You are right, I am not Christian, but I find western culture very interesting," Kiku replied.

"Psst, Honda, over here!" Gilbert whispered.

Kiku turned around and walked over to Arthur, and Gilbert.

"Kesesese, you like that girl's sister don't you?"

"W-What?" Kiku said confused.

"You totally do don't you? We saw it when you were helping her march yesterday, you may deny it to yourself now, but you have a thing for her right? I am awesome, so therefore I know these things."

Kiku face turned red, "I am not very comfortable with this conversation..."

"Stop teasing him Bielschmidt, although I agree with you I don't think that its right to tease him that way," Arthur commented.

"Whatever man," Gilbert replied.

"Arigato Kirkland-san.." Kiku said to Arthur.

When they were filing into the chapel sanctuary's pews, the pew that Gilbert and Arthur went to were full so Kiku had to find another place to sit. The only place left was by Matthia.

"D-Do you mind if I sit here?" Kiku asked nervously. "There's nowhere else..."

Matthia smiled, "Yeah of course you can sit here."

Kiku sat by her. "Arigato gozaimasu Williams-san."

"No problem."

The service then began. While some of the recruits actually payed attention, some just came so that they could get out of doing something else. It was soon time for Father Augustus to begin his sermon.

"Good morning everyone. Before I begin my sermon, I would like to acknowledge to you all that we have the recruits that are going through basic training right now. Let us keep them in our prayers as they begin their military journey. The road ahead of them will have many twists and turns. We wish them the best," Augustus said before starting his actual sermon.

The rest of the service passed quickly and they started to head back. Francine was a bit behind in the group. She wasn't looking where she was going and tripped over a a small rock; she stumbled a bit and bumped into one of the male recruits before falling to the ground. Francine couldn't tell who it was until he turned around.

"Hey stupid, watch where you're going!" Arthur yelled angrily. He then noticed that it was a girl that had run into him. His cold emerald gaze softened. "Watch where you're going," he said in a less harsh tone. He held out his hand offering to help her up. Oh how she desperately wanted to take his hand, but her stupid pride got to her.

"I'm not useless you know," Francine said getting up from the hard concrete sidewalk.

"Well, you don't have to be so rude about it! I was just being a decent person, next time I won't do anything" Arthur responded, his emerald orbs becoming hostile again.

Francine was upset with herself. 'I'm so stupid sometimes...' she thought to herself. Since she already screwed it up there was no point in apologizing or begging for mercy right now. "Good. I don't need your help," Francine stated flatly as she ran off to find the other female recruits that were walking together up ahead.

"Dude, are you stupid? Isn't that the guy you like? Why'd you do that?" Alfreda asked.

"Not so loud Alfreda," Matthia said.

"Merci, Williams."

After they came back from the church service, everything went back to normal. Marching and classes, nothing new. It had all become a routine by now for the recruits. One week down, twelve more to go.

**Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you think so far! I do have plans for the story, but any suggestions are welcome! :)**


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